Moisture repelling ironing board



n- 4 A. T. SMITH MOISTURE REPELLING IRONING BQARD' Filed Sept. 22 1938 INVENTOR. 4 J Jaw/3L ATTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 21', 1941 iJNlTED STATES:

PATENT oFFica Sunlite Mtg. Company, poration of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Wis., a cor- Application September 22, 1938, Serial 'No. 231,107

3 Claims. (01. 38-437) This invention resides in novel ironing supports wherein the usual ironing board covering of fabric, such as muslin, is supported by the usual resilient textile or fibrous padding, which, however,

55 in this invention is in turn supported by a moisture impervious, heat conducting, supporting surface provided with heat-supplying means for furnishing heat to said supporting surface at a temperature sufficient to accelerate, the volatiliza- 10. tion of moisture contained in said pad, but at a temperature low enough so that thermal decompositionan'd charring of said textile pad does not' occur.

Heretofore, in the ordinary domestic ironing board, a rigid wood or metal supporting surface has been provided upon which there has'been placed a resilient pad covered in turn by a muslin or like textile ironing board cover. The conventional process of hand ironing when per- 20 formed on such a board is accompanied by a driving .of moisture from the garment being pressed into the covering of the ironing board. Some of this moisture thus removed from the garment being pressed accumulates in the iron- 25 ing board pad until the latter becomes distinctly moist. When this condition occurs, the ordinary process of hand ironing is perceptibly retarded because of the fact that moisture repeatedly emerges from the pad into the garment being 30 pressed and must be repeatedly driven out again by the heat of. the iron until the garment stays dry. Under these conditions the operator is under the necessity of applying the iron over protracted periods to the garment being pressed 5 for the purpose of imparting sumcient heat to the pad to cause it to lose its excess moisture. v This practice is time consuming and detrimental to the garment being pressed.

The pad of the ironing board of this invention,-

{iii on the other hand, through the moisture-1m:

pervious, heated, supporting layer placed therebeneath, is continually maintained at a temperature favorable to the rapid relief of moisture. 5 As a result, when a garment is ironed upon the ironing board of this invention, the moisture driven from the garment under. the influence oi the heat of the hand iron is but momentarily and temporarily retained in the resilient ironing pad 50 and as soon as the hand iron is passed to other parts of the garment at other parts of the ironing board, the heat being supplied from beneath the ,pad causes the moisture inthe pad to be driven out. Under these conditions a garment may be ironed much more expeditiouslyand effectively and with a minimum 01' frictional engagement with the hand iron.

This invention is herein" described with the aid of the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof and in which: 5

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a form of the ironing board of this invention made of metal.

Fig. 2'is a partial sectional elevation view taken at the plane 2-2 ofFigrL Fig. 3 is a partial elevational section viewed at l0 the plane 3-3 of Fig. 1.

There is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 a board composed of an intermediate sheet of corrugated metal 53, in the corrugations of which thereis placed heating element ll comprising a resistance wire covered with heat-resistant insulation, such as asbestos. It-will be noted from the drawv ing that transverse connections between the corrugations of sheet 53 are provided along the margin of the board to accommodate return bends in the element. Beneath the intermediate sheet 53 is placed a corrugated sheet 55 to furnish transverse stifiness. The whole is then covered with a sheet metal cover sheet 56 to provide a smooth surface to support the usual resilient ironing pad 51, which in turn is covered by the conventional textile ironing board cover 58. A

thermostat oi any suitable form, such as shown in dotted lines,59, may also be provided and electric power for element 54 may be supplied through a junction box 60 and supply lead 8|. The supply of heating current may also be regulated in well-known manner by properly proportioning the resistance of the element to the power supply available, or by providing. a switch.

It may be seen from the embodiment of this invention above described that' a combination of ironing 'pad and supporting structure is provided in which the supporting structure is adapted to drive moisture from the pad at an accelerated 4 rate. The heat is supplied on the side 0! the ironing pad opposite the side upon which the ironing itself is performed. The heat thus supplied beneath the pad is. in no sense a pressing heat and in fact is maintained at a temperature considerably below that 01' common pressing heat. This, is necessary to protect the pad from charring and thermal decomposition; The heat supplied even at this moderate temperature is sum cient, however, to very materially accelerate the rate of departure of moisture contained in the pad. A very substantial increase in the rate-of hand ironing results therefrom. While any heat below the temperature of decomposition of the pad is advantageous so long as it exceeds normal room temperature, I prefer to operate within the upper ranges of these temperatures. For example, beneficial results may be obtained by operating at 150 degrees Fahrenheit and a marked increase may be noted without any detrimental effect upon the pad as the temperatures are increased upward toward 210 degrees Fahrenheit. In the case of a woolen pad, the temperatures may be carried even higher, but an upper limit for most textile materials will be experienced between 200 and 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

The junction box shown in Fig. 1, may conveniently be supplied with a plug-in receptacle to which the hand iorn may be. attached and in such event having but one cord from the ironin board to the wall is of great convenience to the operator, as it allows full use of the ironcord while covering the area of the work to be done..

While this invention has been herein described with reference to a specific embodiment thereof,-it is not intended that the protection of Letters Patent granted hereon be unnecessarily restricted thereby, but that such protection shall extend to the full scope of the advance of the art represented within his disclosure and con-' tained within the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What I claim as my invention and wish to secure by Letters Patent is; l

1. In a'moisture-repelling ironingboard, the

combination comprising a light-weight sheet metal supporting base of ironing board shape with a tapering end and having a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations running lengthwise thereof for imparting stiffness thereto, transverse corrugations between said longitudinal corrugations disposed along andwithinthe margin of said base and spaced both laterally and longitudinally with respect to one another along the margin of the tapering end of said base to approximate the tapering outline thereof, said transverse corrugations forming communicating passages near alternate ends of adjoining pairs of said parallel corrugations providing a continuous back and forth passage for a continuous electrical-resistance-heating con ductor across the upper face of said base, an insulated electrical resistancemeating conductor disposed within said passage, and a substantiall flat sheet metal covering plate superimposed upon and united with said supporting base adapted to hold said conductor in place and to-furnish a flat surface for support of an ironing pad.

2. In a heatable board of the class described. the combination comprising a light-weight sheet metal supporting base of ironing board shape with a tapering end and having a plurality of substantially parallel corrugations for imparting stiffness thereto, transverse corrugations between said parallel corrugations ranged alon and within the margin of said base and spaced both laterally ongitudinally with respect to one another the margin of the tapering end of said outline thereof, said transverse corrugations forming communicating passages near alternate -ends of adjoiningwpairs of said parallel corrugations, thus providing a continuous passage for a continuous electrical-resistance-heating conductor, an insulated electrical-heating-conductor disposed within said passage, and a substantially flat sheet metal covering plate superimposed upon and united with said supporting base adapted to hold said conductor in place and to furnish a flat surface for support of anironing pad.

3. In a'moisture-repelling ironing board, the combination comprising av light-weight sheet metal supporting base of'ironing board shape 'a pprordmate the tapering with a tapering end and Having .a multiplicity of parallelly ranged deformations distributed over the surface thereof for imparting stiffness thereto, a multiplicity of transverse deformations between said parallelly ranged deformations disposed along and within the margin of said base and spaced both laterally and longitudinallywith respect to oneanother along the margin of the tapering end of said base to approximate the tapering outline thereof, said transverse deformations forming communicating passages near alternate ends of 'adjoining'pairs of said'parallelly .rangeddeformations thus providing a continuous. passage for a continuous electrical-resistance-heating conductor, an electrical-resistance-heating conductor disposed within said passage, and a substantially flat sheet metal covering plate superimposed upon and united with said supporting base adapted to hold said electrical-resistance-heating conductor in phase and to furnish a flat surface for support of an i nin pads ALVA T. SMITH. 

